Day 147 – Let’s Get Real About Life !

So many of us have so many challenges it seems right now that we forget to be grateful for our life today. If we just stop each day in the midst of being worried, upset, depressed, angry or whatever the negative feeling we are experiencing is, and just stop to think…..What do I have to be grateful for?

After all, we come into life expecting loss.  We begin with loss—separated from our mother’s protective heartbeat, from the security of her womb, and from our sense of oneness with everything—as we are plunged into an unfamiliar and uncertain world. We hope that, if everything goes according to plan, we will live to a ripe old age.  We anticipate that we will outlive our parents and have to say good-bye to them; after all, most are twenty or more years older than we are.  If we are wise, we understand that everything is impermanent and that during our lives we will lose everything—our looks, our intelligence, our possessions, our careers, our relationships—as we move down the path to our own inviolate mortality.

Ok, now that we’ve gotten real about life, please allow me to share a quote from Daphne Rose Kingma that describes how precious life really is:

So long as we can remember, we’ve just been here, being alive.
Unlike other things for which we have a good comparison–
black to white, day to night, good to bad–
we are so immersed in life that we can see it
only in the context of itself.
We don’t see life as compared to anything,
to not-being, for example, to never having been born.
Life just is. But life itself is a gift.
It’s a compliment just being born:
to feel, breathe, think, play, dance, sing,
work, make love, for this particular lifetime.
Today, let’s give thanks for life.
For life itself. For simply being born!
Daphne Rose Kingma, Source: A Grateful Heart

So, being grateful has a lot to do with our inner happiness.  Even though things may not be the way we want them, again there is always something we are able to be grateful for.  Our job, our family, our mother, father, children – having a wonderful dog or cat or fish tank if none of the above are available in our lives.   And one thing which is very important to remember is that giving is better than receiving.

Sure, we all like to receive–but how much do you give other people?  Of yourself? Not a possession – but the gift of yourself.  Your knowledge, your inner happiness, your joy.  There is always something you can find to be joyful about even in the worst circumstances ever.  And if your situation is truly bad, you can find joy in knowing there is always someone out there who will help you. An organization, a minister, a friend.  No situation is hopeless.  Did you know that the happier you are the longer you will live because the stress level on your heart, your nervous system, your very being will be able to cope with life on a better scale.  Giving to other people can make you truly happy.  Sharing the knowledge you have gained in life.  Helping others learn from the lessons you have learned in life.

This is what life is supposed to be.